White Paper: Introducing A New Solution For Uniaxial Powder Testing

By Tim Freeman, Freeman Technology

For many years the routine use of uniaxial testing for powder characterization has been compromised by the practical difficulties associated with its application. Steps taken to tackle these issues have resulted in the development of a new solution that makes it easier to obtain high quality data with this simple technique. Correlations with rotational shear cell data are excellent.

One way to investigate the flow properties of powders is to quantify the strength of the forces holding them together. Uniaxial testing involves measurement of the force needed to break or fracture a column of consolidated powder. Cohesive powders have relatively strong inter-particulate forces, which encourage the particles to stick together rather than moving easily relative to one another. In contrast, in free-flowing powders, the forces between particles tend to be much weaker. Uniaxial testing is arguably the simplest, most intuitive technique based on this approach to powder characterization. Shear testing is a less direct alternative but has practical benefits.